Data “Objectivity” in a Time of Coronavirus: Uncovering the Potential Impact of State Influence on the Production of Data-Driven News

Wu, Shangyuan

doi:10.1080/21670811.2021.1942111

Cited by 30 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Contextual factors pertaining to the lack of access to available data in some of the countries in this study contribute to such journalistic sensibilities – for instance, freedom of information laws do not exist in China, Singapore, and Malaysia (Du, 2019), unlike in South Korea, Indonesia and India. This means that when data beyond those pre-framed by the government is not available, the types of data stories produced may naturally become more limited, diluted, or toe the official line (Wu, 2021). This makes the version of data journalism practiced in Asia stand apart from that which is practiced in the liberal West.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…That said, journalism realities in Asia suggest that the practice and contents of data journalism might be different in the region, given a different set of political, economic, social, and cultural contexts. While scholars have noted challenges regarding data journalism practice there, such as the lack of data availability, inability to access data, lack of access to journalistic technologies, and low data literacy in newsrooms (Du, 2019;Mutsvairo, 2019;Wu, 2021Wu, , 2022a, there has not been an investigation yet on how the notion of "Asian values" may have manifested itself in actual data stories produced. This presents a significant gap in understanding, given the extent to which these values shape journalism realities in the Asian context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Asian version of data journalism?: Uncovering “Asian values” in data stories produced across Asia

2022

Journalism

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Data journalism in Western-centric research has been lauded for its investigative qualities, capable of bringing to light previously concealed information and enabling the press to play its watchdog function. That said, journalism outside the liberal West may operate within vastly different contexts, shaped by different historical experiences, political cultures, and philosophical traditions, thereby creating a different brand of data journalism. This paper examines data journalism practice in Asia specifically, a region known to be home to collaborative press systems that adhere to a set of “Asian values” pertaining to collectivism, social harmony, norm conformity and deference to authority. By examining 210 data stories produced by news outlets in six Asian countries, this study finds that Asian values are displayed in a vast majority of data stories produced in the region, most of which are news stories pertaining to the home country of these news outlets. Continued reliance on government sources for information and a lack of stories that reveal previously hidden information or scrutinize a powerful entity also suggest no strong push to leverage on the investigative qualities of data journalism to produce more “watchdog” journalism; focus is instead placed on the “civic” role of informing the public.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Asian version of data journalism?: Uncovering “Asian values” in data stories produced across Asia

2022

Journalism

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“…It can be considered the mouthpiece of the government. Nevertheless, relative to state-owned and controlled media, business-oriented news agencies from Taiwan and Hong Kong are sampled to learn their editorial operation, which may fit into their desired investment profile [ 29 , 30 ]. The data span from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2019, which would help understand the journalistic surveillance of obesity coverage for a decade.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…News articles that contained related terms at least 2 times can ensure valid terms. This also allowed researchers to uncover associations that could not have been found using analog research methods [ 30 ]. Additionally, objectivity is a core journalistic norm, which involves collecting and disseminating verifiable facts delivered in a detached manner [ 29 , 30 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This also allowed researchers to uncover associations that could not have been found using analog research methods [ 30 ]. Additionally, objectivity is a core journalistic norm, which involves collecting and disseminating verifiable facts delivered in a detached manner [ 29 , 30 ]. Therefore, each article containing the keyword more than 1 time is viewed as evidence to lend weight to assertions and increase objectivity in news reports.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Obesity-Related Communication in Digital Chinese News From Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan: Automated Content Analysis

Chang¹,

Schulz²,

Jiao³

et al. 2021

JMIR Public Health Surveill

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Background The fact that the number of individuals with obesity has increased worldwide calls into question media efforts for informing the public. This study attempts to determine the ways in which the mainstream digital news covers the etiology of obesity and diseases associated with the burden of obesity. Objective The dual objectives of this study are to obtain an understanding of what the news reports on obesity and to explore meaning in data by extending the preconceived grounded theory. Methods The 10 years of news text from 2010 to 2019 compared the development of obesity-related coverage and its potential impact on its perception in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Digital news stories on obesity along with affliction and inferences in 9 Chinese mainstream newspapers were sampled. An automatic content analysis tool, DiVoMiner was proposed. This computer-aided platform is designed to organize and filter large sets of data on the basis of the patterns of word occurrence and term discovery. Another programming language, Python 3, was used to explore connections and patterns created by the aggregated interactions. Results A total of 30,968 news stories were identified with increasing attention since 2016. The highest intensity of newspaper coverage of obesity communication was observed in Taiwan. Overall, a stronger focus on 2 shared causative attributes of obesity is on stress (n=4483, 33.0%) and tobacco use (n=3148, 23.2%). The burdens of obesity and cardiovascular diseases are implied to be the most, despite the aggregated interaction of edge centrality showing the highest link between the “cancer” and obesity. This study goes beyond traditional journalism studies by extending the framework of computational and customizable web-based text analysis. This could set a norm for researchers and practitioners who work on data projects largely for an innovative attempt. Conclusions Similar to previous studies, the discourse between the obesity epidemic and personal afflictions is the most emphasized approach. Our study also indicates that the inclination of blaming personal attributes for health afflictions potentially limits social and governmental responsibility for addressing this issue.

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How COVID-19 Affected the Practice of Investigative Journalism in Norway and China

Konow-Lund,

Pan,

Gardell

2023

Hybrid Investigative Journalism

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Data “Objectivity” in a Time of Coronavirus: Uncovering the Potential Impact of State Influence on the Production of Data-Driven News

Cited by 30 publications

References 42 publications

An Asian version of data journalism?: Uncovering “Asian values” in data stories produced across Asia

An Asian version of data journalism?: Uncovering “Asian values” in data stories produced across Asia

Obesity-Related Communication in Digital Chinese News From Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan: Automated Content Analysis

How COVID-19 Affected the Practice of Investigative Journalism in Norway and China

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